New Editor/Dashboard Look in Blogger, Google Maps with GPS, Flash Earth, Drop.io, Jott.com Now Has RSS Feeds, No WAAS on New iPhone 3G?, Converting Raster to Vector

New Editor/Dashboard Look in Blogger



I like it; it's bigger, brighter, and more "Web 2.0" (despite my somewhat-dislike for this misnomer that has become such an established "format").  Or maybe this is just a function of the Blogger-in-Draft that I'm using?  Nonetheless, it works well.



I continue to try various stand-alone as well as hosted blogging solutions but Blogger always beats them all hands down.



The only thing I haven't liked about it so far is that it doesn't open a new window for image uploads.  With the previous you could still work on the blog while the photo was uploading, but with the relatively small photos and graphics I use on the blog it's a minor thing.  And it's made up for by the photos actually being inserted at the cursor instead of the top of the screen, as well as an easier drag'n'drop for them when repositioning.



Kudos to Blogger as always.

Google Maps with GPS



Here's an interesting application - Google Maps with GPS.  Basically it's a little program that connects to your GPS and loads up Google Maps (not Google Earth).  I couldn't get it to work with USB but it did work by using another program to emulate a serial port for USB.

  

It's very basic but does it's job, with logging and the ability to zoom and use all the regular features of Google Maps (for the most part).

Flash Earth



Here's a nice resource for sat/aerial/mapping, all in one spot.  This site, using Flash, allows you to access NASA, Open Layers, Microsoft Virtual Earth (both with and without labeling), Yahoo Maps (ever wonder how many hits Yahoo gets through Google searches?), and Ask.com Maps.



There's no specific function for saving them (like most sites) but the good ol' press-PRINT-SCREEN-key-and-paste-into-a-graphics app method works fine.



This site also has some other stuff like a Planetarium.

 

Drop.io



Drop.io - very cool site.  You can store pretty much anything at this site, privately and non-searchable.



You basically can give people the private address an no one else has access to it, though you can password it too if you like. Upload photos, videos, etc.  



And, one of the coolest things about it - you can send or receive your drops via the web, e-mail, voice, or even a fax.  You can even zip everything up in your drop and grab it in one piece.



Highly recommended.

Jott.com Now Has RSS Feeds



If you've ever used Jott - the free service that allows you to call it and say voice notes which are then converted to text and which you can text and/or e-mail to others (or yourself) - then you know how useful it can be and how well their voice-to-text recognition works.



Now they have added the ability to get any RSS feed via text-to speech.  



Sure, you can use your Internet-capable phone to read RSS feeds but it's nice to be able to hear them while you're doing something else, driving, using the computer, or whatever.  Works good if you don't use text messaging or the Internet via phone too - as it's free.  



You can even use it as a substitute for text messaging and such, there's a lot of potential.



All you do is call the Jott number, it recognizes your originating number and you say "Jott Feeds".  Once the voice menu is ready you tell it the name of the feed you previously set up through their website.  After a brief moment it starts reading the RSS feed off to you.  



I use it for quick weather forecasts, racing scores, world news, and even local news via the local news website's RSS feeds.  Very slick.

No WAAS on New iPhone 3G?



I've yet to get a straight answer.  Is the new iPhone;s GPS chip capable of WAAS?  And if not, why not?



I'm assuming since I can't find the info on it that it doesn't.  If not, it's a shame and would be hard to believe. 



It was developed by the FAA to help in increasing the accuracy of GPS for aviation navigation but now is on pretty much all GPS receivers.



The system consists of a number of ground-bases stations which broadcasts timing and location signals to a pair of sats, these are picked up by the WAAS-capable GPS along with the regular GPS satellite network and provides a hellofagood accuracy compared to without it.

 

Converting Raster to Vector 



I've been playing around with various programs for converting raster graphics to vector.  It's interesting, not only for my original purpose - converting aerial, photo, and topographic maps for use on my GPS - but also for the graphics-side of my business.



For use with GPS'es and GPSMapEdit for conversion I'm playing around with the command line BMAP2MP.  There's a few shareware or pay programs that work quite well but this one is free, but complicated to get a good result using the command line.  Still looking for the ultimate solution.



The best description of the process can be found here.  Though it doesn't go into the command line process, unfortunately.  Not for the casual user, or those used to GUI's...



It's hard for a computer to do it accurately in some cases.  If you have a background in electronics I might say it's somewhat similar to an analog-to-digital converter; but on a large scale.  



Meanwhile I continue to improve my personal map system for my GPS.  I'm working on adding a water layer, which can be turned on and off in the GPS.  Not sure how the overlays will handle it though.

Subscribing to Blog, Acer Drivers, Google Tips, Kira, SPCA, Zootoo, Watertown Dog Park

Subscribing Links/Feedburner.com

Firstly, you might notice over on the right a couple new things. There's both a "Subscribe to Random Bits & Bytes by Email" link as well as a "Subscribe in a reader" link. Eventually I need to add some little icons for everything in that block but I haven't had time.

Anyway, they do pretty much what they sound like.

The first takes you to a page where you can enter your e-mail address and (after also doing the visual verification) receive new blog entries from here as I create them.

The second lets you subscribe via a newsreader. If you're using Firefox or comparable you'll get the RSS icon anyway in the URL field too.

Both of these are easy to set up via Feedburner.com, in case you want to do one for your own blog.

MS's Skydrive and Acer 5520 Driver Storage

I've begun to upload some drivers for the Acer 5520 for XP at Windows Live's Skydrive storage, which works quite nicely. You can even embed a folder in a page or blog (like with Box.net which I reviewed in an earlier entry but has less storage space for the free account). I'll upload some of the larger ones at a later date.

Some Google Tricks & Tips

There's a lot of things you can do with Google that the normal searcher probably doesn't know about. Some can make your searching much more spot-on or quicker. Some good ones from a Lockergnome entry:

*Quotes. Using quotes around a phrase makes sure you get the EXACT phrase, not searches for all the words in the phrase.

*'intitle:' It will search for the keywords only in the webpages titles. If you supply multiple keywords it will come back with an OR condition - any pages matching either keyword will show up. To search for a phrase enclose it in quotes. A couple examples:

intitle: abandoned This comes up with any webpage with "abandoned" in the title only.
intitle: abandoned building This will display any website with abandoned OR building in the title.
intitle: "abandoned building" Will display anything with the phrase "abandoned building" in the title.

*The period. When searching use the period instead of a space between two words, or the period instead of a space between two words that you would normally enclose in quotes. You can get more results because it will search for the string of words. Instead of using You can also add this to the 'intitle' search too. This takes some playing around with to get used to it.

*Good old + and -. Plus makes sure the items in your search are included, - makes sure they are not. An example:
"abandoned buildings" -ghost Notice the quotes. This will search for any website with "abandoned buildings" mentioned in it (the phrase), but none that have the word "ghost" in the page.

*() For those who know a little about Boolean operators you can use the parentheses. If you're not a boolean-sort of person skip this one, but those who do programming with probably be able to figure this out. Pretty useful, if needed.

Don't forget to click that "Advanced search" link in Google too, it lets you do the same as above but using a form that you fill out.

Thanks to Lockergnome of the above.

Kira, Cat Toys, Bonito Flakes, Zootoo and Jefferson County SPCA, Watertown Dog Park

We lost Kira, our female ferret a few nights ago. She had a common disease that ferrets get, our

first male ferret - Odo - died with the same thing. It was a very hard night that night.

Saturday we were at the Super-Walmart near Fort Drum and picked up some cat toys on sale. Included in the package was something called "Dried Bonito Flakes", which is apparently used something like Tuna Fish in certain other countries, both for humans and as a treat for animals.

Unfortunately most of our cats were very much not thrilled with it. Despite the very fishy smell only a couple tried it.

It looks like shredded wood to me, or something that comes out of a pencil sharpener. And frankly smells much, much worse - a combination of strange old fish and a few other things I can't pinpoint. I can see why the cats don't like it, though a few scarfed it down - likr Crusher (he'll eat pretty much anything).

About hanging cat toys - we normally don't have them around or if we do the cats are supervised while using them, because it's too easy for a cat to get the toy down and get wound up in it. Same with other cat toys with strings and things they can get tied up in. For example, I found Ezri once with a cat toy wrapped around her hip, almost unable to move. It wouldn't have been long before some sort of damage would have been done to her from trying to get out of it and pulling it tighter and tighter. Bad, very bad.

If you want to use those toys make sure you keep an eye on them and don't let them have access to them when you are not around, and keep the hanging ones as high as possible (both to keep them from getting would up in them and to keep the toy intact, as they can't get to the string part of chew it off or swallow it).

If you have old cat scratching toys that have been scratched to pieces, like the ones with Sisal rope around them - you can easily replace it yourself by finding some of the Sisal rope into a hardware store or Walmart and rewrapping it yourself. Let's face it; larger cat toys aren't cheap and you can never have too many cat-scratching posts.

In an earlier blog you might have seen the large cat play toy thing I made, incorporating sisal rope scratching on the columns.

We're still hoping our local Jefferson County SPCA can win the million make-over from Zootoo.com. Here's the Zootoo link for the Jefferson County SPCA. Join Zootoo, and then add the local SPCA to your account and they will receive points for it, if they get enough they will win the make-over. So help 'em out - join, review some pet toys or anything, and help them with the points.

Some determined people are still trying to get a dog park in Watertown. Here's his message on Craig's List:

It's still in limbo, but it will happen...with your help. City Counsel does not want to throw their support behind it because they don't want to pay for it. The problem is, them not supporting it, makes it all the harder to get the donations that would make it happen. Who wants to donate to something that may or may not happen? Quite the catch 22! Were NOT looking for the $700,000 plan the City Came up with!! A Dog Park is just some Fence, Bag dispensers, trash cans, Benches and a water source Come on people WE CAN DO THIS!!!!

I have been asking EVERYONE who wants a Dog Park in Watertown to send ANY donation to

WATERTOWN CITY COMPTROLLER
MIA'S DOG PARK PROJECT
245 WASHINGTON ST.
WATERTOWN NY 13601

It does not matter if its $1 (more would be nice) it just shows support!!! Make sure to "Earmark" your check "Dog Park" so they don't use it to fill potholes! If the 2000 licensed dog owners of the city sent $20 each that would be $40,000 right there. It is Tax deductible too!!! Ask all your Family/friends to do this, Ask your Boss or anyone with a love for Dogs. If we get enough response they will have no Choice.

In Addition I have two Fund Raisers in the work for April/May. Will post details as soon as they are firmed up. Thanks SG + Mia

You can find a little more info at http://www.myspace.com/miabumblebee

I hope we can get this in Watertown - a great addition to the area. But we have the "old school", "Good ol' Boy" mentality - 'if it's something new and different and we didn't come up with it ourselves we won't consider it'. Good example of it here; trying to kill it by putting a ridiculous price tag on it....

I love Jefferson County and it's people, for the most part; don't get me wrong. But there is some severe ignorance on the part of those who run the city and the county. It's why Fort Drum is one of the few things keeping the area from being the worse place, economically and socially, in NY state. I'm no big fan of the military nor Fort Drum but without it I'd hate to live here.

Unfortunately the area is held back by those very people who should be improving it and thinking toward it's future.